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Normundar
Name What do these people call themselves? What do others call them? What meaning do these names hold? Overview Though the Normundar are technically a part of the Deltari Democracy they share little of their culture, save for their common vision of matriarchy. Their way of Life circles around hunting, dueling and wandering. When they encounter Another tribe they both send forth five of their best warriors who will duel, often to the Death, for the honor of their tribe. Afterwards there will be a huge feast with lots of singing, dancing and even more duels. Physical Attributes General Description What do these people physically look like on average? What is the range of appearances? Unique Abilities What unique abilities do these people posses? Are these things magical or physical in nature? How common are these abilities? Geography Location Where are these people found? Climate What is the climate of these people’s native region? Terrain Are there mountains, plains, forests, ext. In these people’s home region? Hazards What kind of hazards are found in these people’s home region? Are they seasonal, constant, or random? Are they environmental or political? Economy Agriculture What sort of farming do these people practice? What kind of crops are planted? Domestic Animals/Herding What sort of animals have these people domesticated? Do they herd animals? Hunting/Gathering Do these people practice hunting or gathering? Is this their main source of food or is it done seasonally or secondary? Industries What kind of industries exist among these people? Are they created for home or foreign markets? Natural Resources What other natural resources do these people harvest and use? How important are these? Are they harvested to be traded or for personal use? Trade What goods do these people trade? Internal trade? External trade? How important is this to the country's economy? Is there a type of merchant class? Currency What is used as currency among these people? How available is this currency? Political Structure General Description What sort of political structures do these people use? How entrenched are these structures in the everyday lives of common people? Who controls these structures? Political History How has history helped shape the political landscape of these people? Political Leadership Who runs the governments of these people? Priests, warlords, landowners, bureaucrats, elected officials? How are these people chosen for leadership? How do these leaders justify their continue rule? Political Power How powerful and centralized are these people's governments? Through what means do these governments exist and impact the lives of everyday people? Political Structures What kind of structures exist in these governments? Does power lay at the top of a hierarchy or do those on the ground wield the real Power? Religion in Politics What role does religion play in the governments of these people? Do priests hold more power than secular entities? Do they hold speciale responsibilities or positions? Magic in Politics What role does magic play in the governments of these people? Do mages play a different role in government than non-mages? Views on other Cultures Subcultures What kind of sub or non mainstream cultures exist among these people? How are they seen by the mainstream culture? What kind of interactions are allowed with this subculture? Minorities What kind of minorities exist within these people’s society? How are they preserved? Are they treated as equals or as second class citizens? What kind of interactions are allowed with these people? Foreign Cultures How are foreign cultures seen by these people? In what way do these people interact with foreigners? What kind of relationships are acceptable with foreigners? Cultural Appearance Adornment It is incredibly important for the Normundar to wear their armbands, as they are the only proof of how old a person is. The armbands are made of hide (for pilgrimages), leather (for mates), bronze (for battles), or silver (for councils), and for every event they have engaged in they mark their armband with a hole. What adornments do these people wear? Are they for special events or casual wear? Tattoos/Scarification Do these people permanently alter their skin in any way? Do they get tattoos? Do they scare or brand themselves? Do these hold ritual significance? Do these marks hold certain meanings? Makeup What Kind of makeup do these people use? Clothing What sort of clothing do these people wear? Hair What do these people’s hair look like naturally? How do they style it? What is done with facial hair? What is different for men and women? Children, adults, and elders? Attraction What is considered beautiful by these people? What are the standards for men and women? What is considered ugly? What is the difference between cute/handsome and hot/sexy? Cultural Creations Architecture What styles of architecture is common among these people? What difference is there between informal commoner buildings and more large scale projects? Are these built to last or not? Art What sort of art do these people create? Literature/stories What sort of writing do these people create? Do they follow standard genres or archetypes? Music What sort of music do these people make? What kind of instruments? Food What sort of food do these people create? Calendar/Time Keeping Keeping time is a strange subject for the Normundar as they perceive time as something fleeting and uncontrollable, they reckon that just because you have lived longer it doesn't make your soul age like experience does. Instead they have four different criteria when measuring age: how many pilgrimages you've gone, how many mates you've had, how many duels you've won, and how many councils you've sat on. How do these people record the passage of time? Societal Structure/Views Marriage/Courtship What sort of marriage and courtships do these people practice? Who initiates? What steps are taken in order to get married? At what point in their lives do they get married? Who is allowed to marry whom? Family What do family structures look like among these people? How long do they last? At what point in their life do they form? Who are allowed to create a family? Pregnancy How is pregnancy seen by these people? What is biologically different/unique? What things must pregnant women do differently? What are they not allowed to do? Naming System When they are born they are given a 'milk name' which is often a cute or silly name which they will keep until they perform their first kill, man or beast, after which they take on the name of the person they killed, or if it's a beast then the tribal elders will make up a name. The ritual of name-taking is carried on their entire life when it comes to humans they kill in single combat; every time they kill another man or woman in a duel they will take on their true name in addition to their own. This often leads to mighty warriors having long and ridiculous names. What is the structure of a person's names? When and by whom are these given? Children What role do children play in society? Who raises them? What is expected of them? Education What forms of education exist for these people? What groups receive what kind of education? Elders How are elders treated by these people? What roles do they fill? What is expected of them? Death and Burial Practices How are the dead treated by these people? Are they buried? Cremated? How are they prepared for these rights? Inharitance How is inheritance handled when someone dies? How does different classes handle inheritance? Class/Caste Are these people separated by class or caste? Are these separations hard or soft? How do these different groups interact, if at all? Destitutes Who are the destitute and down trout within this society? How are they seen? Are they helped or left on their own? Gender Structures/Roles What sort of gender specific roles exist among these people? What is expected of men that is not expected of women? Vice versa? Sexual Identity What kind of sexual identity exists among these people? Is heterosexual relationships the only acceptable type of sexuality? What non traditional types of sexuality are allowed? How are non straight people viewed? Personal Identity What aspects of a person are most important to their personal identity? Is it their family, clan, state, profession, religion, ext? Courtesy/Manners What is considered courteous or proper by these people? How does one treat a stranger? Family? Freind? Modesty What is considered modest by these people? How important is modesty? What is modest for different classes and genders? Laws/Legal Code What sort of laws and social rules exist among these people? Are these formal or informal? Enforced by a central authority or a traditional social order? Punishment What kind of punishments do these people believe in? What punishments are given in response to what crimes? Drugs What kind of drug use is acceptable or encouraged by these people? Under what circumstances are these drugs acceptable to use? Which drugs are not allowed? Language What do these people’s language sound like? What relation does it have to other languages? Cultural Events Sports/Recreation What sort of sports or other recreations do these people do? Is there a difference between professional and casual sports? Who plays what sports? Festivals/celebrations What sort of celebrations and festivals do these people have? Are they centered around times of year? Point in people’s lives? Specific events? Birthdays? Funerals? Marriages? Puberty? Demographics Towns/Villages/Cities What kind of villages, towns, and cities do these people have? How large are they? Who controls these population centers? Migration/Population Movement How, and for what reasons, do these people move around? Are these short range or over long distances? Do they return to a set ‘home’ or is home always moving? Do the young move or does everyone? Do most people die where they are born or elsewhere? Exploration Do these people explore new territory? How do they view exploration? What tools do they have at their disposal? Colonization How do these people colonize new territories? How connected are these colonies to their homeland? What happens to the natives of these colonies? Conflict Military What sort of military do these people have? Is it made of professionals or irregulars? How is gender or class important within these people’s military? Weaponry/Armor What kind of weapons and armor do these people use? Are they of the people’s own design or taken from another people? What level of quality are these weapons? Do they export or import weapons/armor? Magic in Warfare How is magic used as a component of the military? Do mages serve specific roles or are they treated like normal soldiers? What kinds of magic are used by these people in war? War/Conquest Do these people wage war? How do they view war? How are conquered people treated? How expansionary are they? Resistance/Dissent What kind of dissent and resistance do these people practice? What groups are these targeted at? Raiding Do these people raid? Is it acceptable to do so? Who is doing the raiding and who is being raided? Slavery Is slavery allowed by these people? Who can be enslaved? Are children of slaves born free? What rights do slaves have? How can slaves be made free? Abandonment When do these people abandon their home? When everything they have is destroyed do they rebuild or move on? Natural Disasters What kind of natural disasters do these people deal with? How do they respond? From where do they believe these disasters come from? Diseases What kind of disease do these people deal with? What is seen as the source? How do they deal with them? Religion (RELIGION NAME) Name What is the name of this religion? What meaning does it have? General Overview Give a general overview of this religion. What are its major tenets? How does it exist in the daily lives of everyday people? What religious leaders exist? Religious History How has this religion changed over the years? How long has it been around? What major events shaped it? Religious Structure How are the formal institutions of this religion constructed? What levels of leadership positions exist? How do these leaders interact with everyday believers? What informal institutions exist? Deities/Mythic Figures Who, if any, are the gods of this religion? What characters exist in their myths? What powers do they hold? Sacred Lore What books or collections of tales does this religion teach? Are they equally important? Who tells these stories? Creation Myth How do these people believe the world and its people came into existence? How recent was Creation? Death How is death view in this religion? What happens to a person after they die? Followers How do followers experience this religion in their everyday lives? How important is it to them? Are all followers created equal? Sacred Sites What sites or cities are considered sacred by this religion? How long have they been seen this way? Why? Religious Orders What kind of religious orders exist within this religion? Are they militarily focused? Isolated or open to the public? Who is allowed to join these orders? What services do they provide? Heretical Groups What heretic groups exist within this religion? How are they treated by members of the mainstream religion? Magic Does magic play a part in this religion? Do mages play a different part in the religion than non-mages? Magic Connection to Magic What kind of connection do these people have with magic? How does it influence them? How much control over it do they have? Social Views on Magic How is magic viewed by these people? Does gender/class influence perceptions of magic? How are mages viewed? Styles of Magic How do these people use magic? Are there distinct styles or methods of using magic? What schools of thought exist around magic? History Historical Period or Era General overview of these people’s history in the named region. Legends/Stories/Myths: Name of Legend/Story/Myth Text of this legend/story/myth, either a brief description or a full write up. Major Nations Name of Nations General write up of this nation and its significance. Major Settlements Name of Settlement General write up of this city/town/village and its significance. Major Individuals Name of Person General write up of this person and their significance?